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Impromptu shoot of a skate park in Houston. Some of my first experiments with the 7D. If I would have decreased shutter speed to over 50, I would have gotten much more of the action, but at 50, even though it’s blurred when the skaters are moving, you can catch some very sharp frames. Please tell me what you think!

In case you’ve missed out on one of the greatest opportunities for those endeavoring to make films with the HDSLR. Did I mention this webcast that goes on for 3 days is totally FREE??? There are so many people trying to capitalize on every aspect of the HDSLR revolution which in my opinion is in conflict with the spirit of it, Vincent La Foret once again, expels the money changers from the temple and puts filmmaking back in the hands of the people. Just tune in at http://creativelive.com/live/ today and Sunday to catch the last two days of the webinar — again FOR FREE!!!

Last night I tuned in just to see what’s on, because even during the breaks they’ve left one of the cameras streaming, and they were replaying Friday’s webinar. Average number of viewers online has been averaging 2000+. Also, you can particapate with questions on twitter by typing #creativelive Again, much respect for Vincent Laforet for giving back to the film community by making his knowledge and experience available to everyone who seeks it. Just as a disclaimer, they are charging for a copy of this webinar that will be available for download next week for about $80. However, it’s clear to see that the amount of work it took to produce this, they will barely recoup there cost. Way to give back gentlemen! Here’s Saturday and Sunday’s schedule.

DAY TWO: Saturday May 1st. PART I: Introduction to Cinema Language and Concepts. 9 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. We’ll make sure you know what panning vs tilting is and what a locked off shot it. CU / ECU / Medium Shot / Establishing shot will become part of your vocabulary – as well as a lateral move, a push or a pull. We’ll define what a hyperfocal is to you and how to use is to tackle focusing challenges. We’ll ask the important question of: how shallow is too shallow in terms of depth of field – especially when it comes to working with actors. We’ll get into lens choice and discuss compression and distortion. PART II: Cinema lighting and camera support. 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. We will not be going into complex lighting on this one – in fact lighting is one of the areas we will be spending the least amount of time on during this workshop given the complexity of the concepts involved and time / gear constraints. We’ll discuss how to use a variety camera support tools – at various price points. Students will get hands on time with the gear and discuss HOW and WHY it is used (and to what EFFECT.) We’ll start off by looking into a wide variety of handheld rigs and tools. We’ll also look at a variety of sliders, dollies, JIB, Pan/Tilt Heads and time lapse tools. We’ll then discuss wireless focus solutions, wireless video transmitters, and video conversion solutions. We’ll be discussing gear from: Redrock Micro, Zacuto, Arri, Broncolor, GlideTrack, O’Connor, Cinevate, Kessler Cranes, MicroDolly Hollywood, and Porta Jib, Lite Panels, Black Magic, IDX, and Viewfactor amongst others. BREAK – LUNCH FROM 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. PART III: The Makeup of a Film Crew – 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. We’ll quickly discuss the business of film and also make sure you know what a director’s responsibilities are – as well as what a 1st AC does vs a gaffer or script supervisor. We’ll also discuss what a treatment is and when film permits are needed and/or clearances. PART IV: First Shoot – 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. The students will gather to shoot their first min-documentary. They will shoot a sit down interview as well as some B-Roll and learn how to mix an interview with B-Roll footage effectively. PART V BONUS – Live Video Editing Session – 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. DAY THREE:

Sunday May 2nd PART I: NARRATIVE SHOOT – Pre Pro – 9 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Students will get back together and work on the pre-production of a short narrative piece that they will shoot in the next section. We’ll discuss storyboarding, managing a shot list and equipment list – and the concept of shooting a scene / piece in a non-linear manner to save time (and expense.) PART II: NARRATIVE SHOOT – 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Students will break up into various roles and shoot a short narrative piece together – utilizing the tools and techniques discussed over the prior two days. This will give us a chance to see everything come together – and also to pick up on some very common mistakes that first time filmmakers make. BREAK – Lunch 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. PART III: WORKFLOW – 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. We’ll discuss converting footage and a variety of editing tools for both Mac and PC. We’ll cover Final Cut Studio, Compressor, Adobe CS5 (we’re still working on this detail given how new the software is) , MPEG Streamclip, and Plural Eyes. We’ll also discuss backup strategies, from the Canon/Apple FCP Log and Transfer plugin, to Servers, LTO Tape and Drobo. PART IV: FINISHING 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. We’ll also get a basic introduction to editing – and bring together the pieces we shot together earlier in the day. Students will get an introduction to editing by qualified FCP and CS5 instructors (see above- we’re trying to get CS5 in…) The class will culminate with a discussion on how to grade the footage in Apple’s

Color software. And we’ll discuss how to deliver the final media to a variety of devices – from iPhones, AppleTV, streaming web movies, all the way to BluRay.